Chapter 167
166, Confession (4 more updates)
The villagers were very hospitable.
Xie Zhinuan also invited everyone to sit under the shed, serving them tea and some sunflower seeds, allowing them to chat and pass the time.
The villagers from Xiaohe Village knew that Xie Zhinuan generally did not allow people to enter her home since it was occupied only by women, which made it inconvenient for them to enter. It was more comfortable to talk in the shed, without the risk of gossip.
They were still afraid of offending Xie Zhinuan, worrying that they might lose the opportunity to earn money.
Soon, a man brought over a garment, which the silly girl received with knitted brows.
It was truly dirty.
Xie Zhinuan needed this dirtiness. She soaked the clothing in the boiled Jiji Water, which was still scalding hot from recently boiling. She used a wooden stick to stir it.
After a while, she fished the garment out.
It was clearly renewed, and the dirt on it had almost faded away to invisibility. Xie Zhinuan tossed the garment into a basin, rinsed her hands with water, and left the courtyard with a smile.
The men in the shed immediately stood up, respectfully calling out, “Miss Xie!”
“I have confirmed that this is indeed the grass I need. The same deal applies, two wen per jin, I’ll take as much as you can provide!”
Xie Zhinuan knew that it wouldn’t suffice to just harvest the grass from the mountains; they needed to cultivate it over a large area.
For now, she had only a little silver and needed to find ways to earn more diligently.
The men were overjoyed and left, taking a sample with them, even though they knew where to find it, they were still afraid of picking the wrong kind.
As Xie Zhinuan pondered on how to earn money, Li Hengyi sent Yuanbao to invite her over in a very cautious manner.
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“…”Xie Zhinuan was surprised and asked Yuanbao, “What does your master want me to do there?”
“You’ll know once you get there!” Yuanbao said with a smile, mysteriously refusing to reveal more.
Xie Zhinuan was ready to leave, and the three cats eagerly followed her, so she had no choice but to take them along.
This was their first time entering Li Hengyi’s residence, and they were quite fascinated.
“Miss Xie, I will take these three to the back yard to play!” Yuanbao said with a smile, clearly taken with the trio.
“Alright!” Xie Zhinuan agreed.
However, it was obvious that the cats had no intention of paying him any attention.
They stuck close behind Xie Zhinuan, almost stepping in her shadow.
“…”
Yuanbao laughed and watched eagerly as Xie Zhinuan led the three cats into the hall.
Li Hengyi was waiting for her.
When Xie Zhinuan entered, they exchanged greetings, and Li Hengyi invited her to sit, with a maid promptly serving tea.
“Miss Xie, please enjoy the tea!”
“Thank you!” Xie Zhinuan expressed her thanks.
The maid blushed and retreated quickly, but not before giving Xie Zhinuan a deep, lingering look.
Once everyone had left, Xie Zhinuan took a gentle sip from her teacup.
The tea was fragrant, sweet, and smoothly soothing as it went down.
It was indeed very good tea.
“I heard that you found what you were looking for?” Li Hengyi inquired.
“Yes!”
Xie Zhinuan had no intention of hiding this; such things couldn’t be concealed anyway.
Moreover, she was considering bringing Li Hengyi on board as a partner to start this business venture.
With a powerful backer, they could make more money.
“What do you plan to do with that grass?” Li Hengyi asked curiously.
After all, it was just a wild grass, inedible, and, according to the physicians he had asked, not a medicinal herb. It even seemed to carry a faint poison.
“It’s for laundering clothes. It can powerfully remove stains, making old clothes look new again. It can even remove bloodstains – maybe not 100%, but definitely 90% of them!”
“…”
Li Hengyi was taken aback.
This was something miraculous.
“Yuan Liuwang and I were thinking of collecting used clothes from the city, laundering them and then selling them to towns and villages. The clothes worn by the lords and ladies of the city are of great quality, and their winter clothing is warm. Even the old clothes of their maids are made with good materials. However, villagers have very little silver and many can’t afford winter clothing, which results in people frequently freezing to death. I want to make money from this, so I thought of using Jiji Grass boiled in water to soak the clothes, which can powerfully remove stains!” Xie Zhinuan explained earnestly, without any hint of concealment.
Chapter 168